PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Put stuff out even if it is not perfect

Here's where I will toss my monkey wrench in and see if you would add a caveat.

How about if going back and remixing those 5 albums would result in 10,000 more units sold per album? Would you do it then?

This video from Graham was his concept personified. He cares more about how many videos he puts out that how clearly and concisely he expresses himself and communicates his point. Why? Because like all of these "youtube is how I make money" people, all that matters is views.

Remember one thing about him. He came up in the 90s. Video was already kind. The world was online. By the time he started working in music, I was over 40. He is from the culture that says "I will toss out these videos and my followers will watch them and youtube will give me money. And I sat at a desk in my office the whole time. It has to be better than a job, right?" kind of people.

Also of note is that he has never produced anybody you have ever heard of. He records a lot of Christian bands that do nothing more than play in their church and want someone to record THE song that they wrote.

There was a video he did a long time back refuting the merits of analog summing, saying "You can make just as good a mix without it." When pressed further he admitted he had never tried it. I suspect that the point of that piece was to stress that you can be cheap and not have to buy any outboard gear. I myself stay with digital summing (everything done in the DAW) for that reason. I am so tight I squeak. The point of this paragraph is that a statement like he made, about something he has never tried, is the same as "This is the right way because it's how I do it."

As far as "more" vs "good", I disagree. One local guy here put out a Cd with 5 songs on it. And 5 months later he out out another with 5 more. Why not wait and put out all 10? Why pay twice for duplication and art work? We had a good laugh when he emailed me "Hey. Buy my new CD." and I emailed back "You didn't put out a CD. You put out a sampler that is little more than your band jamming between serious recording sessions." I want to hear professional, polished, perfect....

Now, to argue with myself about that point, say this. If your perception is that you will lose people if you don't give them a song a month so you put out demos so they can hear the new songs, fine. But don't put those demos out as is when you actually release the CD. A demo is exactly that, a demonstration recording of what the finished product will sound like after you "really" record it.

I remember when Springsteen put out one of his cookie cutter albums (I think it was Nebraska) and everybody jumped on the cliche bandwagon and told me how "cool" it was that he did the whole thing on 4 track. And my reply was "And it sounds like it. It's apiece of crap." That never sits well with the "cultist" level fans who would buy his stuff if it contained flatulence during the quiet passages, but it's the truth. I like The Boss when he was a musician. As soon as he decided to become a poet he lost me. There's already been a Bob Dylan. Leave it alone.

So to sum up, I disagree with Graham on this one but this attitude toward music as a business is the result of him being born in the internet world. He is 2 generations after the baby boomers and the first version of a millennial who expects the world to hand him a living for very little effort. Blog posts, 5 minute videos.... that is worth $750,000 a year? And remember, he has no high profile performers on his production resume. It's just a different world now.